WISDOM 

for  the 

WISE 


LORENZO  SOSSO 


Sowentr  Edition 


Itlustrxted  with  20  Beautiful  Vfcws  of 
San  ^Jrr&ncisco  after  the  Jire 


SAN  FRANCISCO 

J79  DeLong  Av«, 
1906 


All  views  in  this  book  expressly  photographed  and 

herein    reproduced  with    the  kind    permission  of 

JAMES  STODDARD,  Photographer, 

835  Octavia  Street, 

San  Francisco,  Cal. 


Wisdom  for  the  Wise 


A  BOOK 

OF 

PROVERBS  IN   RHYME 
By 

Lorenzo  Sosso 

, 

Author  of 
PROVERBS  OF  THE   PEOPLE 


w,. 


1.0r 


Souvenir  Edition 


SAN  FRANCISCO 

I  79  De  Long  Ave. 

1906 


Copyright 

By  Lorenzo  Sosso 

1906 


O 

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Dedicated  to 
The    People    of   Greater  San  Francisco 

With  faith  in  their  future 
With  hope  in  their  courage 
And  with  charity  to  all 


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Greater    San    Francisco 

After  St.  Francis  they  named  thee,  my  City, 

Golden  the  poppies  which  bloom  in  thy  hair; 
Could  not  the  Fates  in  their  infinite  pity, 

Seeing  thy  glory  and  loveliness,  spare  ? 
Stone  upon  stone  have  they  rent  the  foundation 

Whence  thou  hadst  built  thee  a  throne  of  delight, 
Filling  thy  heart  with  a  sad  desolation, 

Earthquake  and  fire  the  arms  of  their  might. 

Yet,  although  mightily  fallen  and  stricken, 

Fortitude  parried  the  thrust  of  the  gods; 
Out  of  the  ashes  thy  life  will  requicken, 

Courage  loves  fighting  'gainst  terrible  odds. 
Give  to  thy  sons  of  that  magical  potion 

Giving  thy  Argonaut  children  of  yore 
The  brawn  of  the  hills  and  the  salt  of  the  ocean, 

The  talons  to  pounce  and  the  pinions  to  soar. 

Then  like  a  dream  in  our  strength  will  we  build  thee 

Fairer  and  greater  than  ever  of  old; 
Filling  thy  homes,  as  the  Pioneers  filled  thee, 

With  Womanhood  fair  and  with  Manhood  as  bold. 
With  ships  from  all  seas  still  afloat  in  thy  haven, 

With  all  of  the  wealth  of  the  world  at  thy  gate, 
He  is  less  than  a  coward  and  worse  than  a  craven 

Who  has  not  the  courage  to  combat  with  fate. 

Generous,  gracious  the  world  ever  found  the, 

Far,  far  more  eager  to  give  than  receive; 
And  when  the  swift  hand  of  destruction  discrowned  thee 

With  weeping  compassion  the  world  came  to  grieve. 
Yet  sunsets  still  halo  thy  hills  with  tlieir  splendor, 

Ocean  still  lavishes  gems  at  thy  feet, 
The  beautiful  valleys  around  thee  surrender 

Their  bountiful  treasures  of  vine  and  of  wheat. 

O  I  am  proud  of  thee,  glad  too,  my  City, 

Glad  of  the  poppies  which  bloom  in  thy  hair; 
Drink  from  the  cup  of  the  world's  love  and  pity 

So  it  may  strengthen  thy  spirit  to  bear, 
^hen  will  thy  people  again  repossess  thee 

Lovelier  yet  than  of  old  they  possessed; 
And  all  of  thy  sisters  in  wonder  confess  thee 

The  beautiful  City,  the  Queen  of  the  West ! 


PREFACE 


Wisdom  for  the  Wise— who  need  it 
More  than  the  babes  to  whom  we  feed  it. 


Though  not  a  native,  I  have  been  a  resident  of  San 
Francisco  for  more  than  thirty  years  continuously.  Everything 
which  makes  the  habitation  of  man  dear  to  his  heart  abides  for 
me  within  its  precincts,  and  I  have  never  dreamed  of  a  home 
away  from  the  circle  of  its  beautiful  hills  and  the  glorious  bay 
which  surrounds  it.  With  the  selfish  fondness  of  a  father  for 
his  only  child,  I  have  watched  it  grow  in  splendor  and  in  wealth, 
and  exulted  at  the  strange  fascination  it  exercised  over  the  hearts 
of  men  from  all  lands.  1  have  watched  the  ships  sailing  and 
steaming  in  through  the  Golden  Gate,  and  they  seemed  like 
doves  of  peace  bringing  messages  of  good-will  from  all  the  world. 
In  the  still  night,  when  the  scream  of  the  engine's  whistle 
would  reach  my  ears,  I  would  often  reflect  upon  the  fact  that 
though  dwelling  in  a  city  whose  boundaries  were  almost  at  the 
verge  of  our  great  nation's  territory,  yet  we  were  linked  to  it 
by  bands  of  steel,  and  Plymouth  Rock  did  not  seem  so  far  from 
Shag  Rock,  nor  Bedloe's  Island  from  Alcatraz. 

And  I  shall  never  falter  in  my  faith  in  her  glorious  future, 
nor  ever  disclaim  the  sentiments  expressed  in  the  poem  herein 


reprinted  from  "Sunset  Magazine."  This  little  book  is  issued 
with  no  intention  of  boasting  of  these  things,  but  with  the  modest 
desire  of  adding  my  mite  of  good- will  to  the  people  at  large, 
the  people  of  dear  San  Francisco,  women,  children  and  men, 
many  of  whom  have  suffered  the  saddest  of  deprivations,  the 
loss  of  home  and  kindred,  but  whose  spirit  is  undaunted  and 
who  are  more  than  ever  resolute  and  courageous;  yes,  nobler 
and  greater  than  ever. 


1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 
10. 
11. 
12. 
13. 
14. 
15. 
16. 
17. 
18. 
19. 
20. 


California  Pioneers*  Building. 

Old  Mission  Dolores. 

City  HaD. 

West  Side  of  City  Hall. 

Observatory  Golden  Gate  Park. 

Nob  Hill,  Looking  Southeast. 

Chinatown. 

Mission  Street  Wharf. 

From  Pine  and  Stockton. 

New-Post  Office,  Mission  Street  Side. 

Looking  up  O'Farrell  Street. 

Cattle  Killed  by  Earthquake. 

Masonic  Temple.     Synagogue  Adjoining. 

Music  Stand,  Golden  Gate  Park. 

Museum,  Golden  Gate  Park. 

Van  Ness  Ave.  at  Vallejo  Street. 

View  of  the  Mission. 

Dynamiting  after  the  Fire. 

Pine  Street  from  Montgomery. 

A  Row  of  Modern  Kitchens. 


The  greater  man's  pomposity, 

The  less  his  generosity. 

The  mantle  of  morality 

May  cover  deep  rascality. 

The  rainbows  of  existence 

Are  always  in  the  distance. 

All  men  are  dreamers — but  a  fraction 

FulSH  the  dreams  of  men  with  action. 

There's  little  of  divinity 

In  modern  femininity. 

Character,  not  features, 

Distinguishes  God's  creatures. 

Dismiss  not  with  impunity 

The  god  of  opportunity. 

The  cap  for  all  humanity 

O;  universal  fit  is  --  vanity. 

Tested  in  Mammon's  crucible 

To  what  is  Love  reducible ! 

Many  a  costly  jewel 

Has  Folly  used  for  fuel. 


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To  trust  to  intuit'on 
Is  reason's  superstition. 

To  trust  to  an  illusion 
Is  reason  in  confusion. 

Love  whose  affection  ranges 
Is  soon  a  love  which  changes. 

Nothing  in  life's  more  hateful 
Than  friendship  turned  ungrateful. 

Better  equivocating 

Than  quarreling  in  debating. 

The  spirit  of  negation 
Is  not  renunciation. 

He  buys  his  life  too  dearly 
Who  takes  it  too  severely. 

There  is  no  heavier  fetter 
Than  that  which  binds  a  debtor. 

It  is  not  only  foxes 
Who  deal  in  paradoxes. 

Sometimes  an  ounce  of  knowledge 
Is  worth  a  pound  of  college. 


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The  beauty  of  a  building 
Is  not  alone  its  gilding. 

If  Poverty  could  make  men  cheerful 
Prosperity  would  feel  less  fearful. 

We  still  hold  fate  accountable 
For  what  proves  unsurmountable. 

They  preach  of  life's  amenities 
Who  profit  by  its  lenities. 

The  beauty  of  a  sermon 
Is  not  in  stole  or  ermine. 

Kings  dignify  their  station 
But  not  their  occupation. 

Mankind  should  never  lengthen 
The  arm  it  helps  to  strengthen. 

Persuasion  will  not  wheedle 
The  eye-whole  from  a  needle. 

Men  in  opinion  vary 
But  women  are  contrary. 

The  followers  of  Hypocricy 
Can  form  no  aristocracy. 


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Absence  oft  makes  us  wander 
Instead  of  growing  fonder. 

What  is  the  world's  derision 
To  him  who  hath  the  vision? 

This  marrying  for  money 
May  not  be  quite  so  funny. 

In  law  too  little  brevity, 
In  love  too  much  of  levity. 

Many  a  saint's  reflection 
Would  never  bear  inspection. 

Deceit  still  wears  upon  her 
The  mantle  of  dishonor. 

Some  men  require  no  schooling 
To  learn  the  art  of  fooling. 

The  wisdom  that  forestalleth 
Is  oft  the  first  that  falleth. 

'Tis  only  his  reverses 
The  speculator  curses. 

Better  poor  independence 
Than  royalty's  resplendence. 


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Why  men  are  not  more  sensible 
Is  still  incomprehensible. 

A  little  of  timidity 
Should  temper  intrepidity. 

There  is  too  much  disparity 
Between  good-will  and_]charity. 

'Tis  not  in  haunted  houses 
The  devil  most  carouses. 

The  virtue  of  society 
Is  certainly  not  piety. 

It  is  not  virtue  singly 

Can  make  man's  nature  kingly. 

If  you're  a  hero,  for  example, 

Don't  prove  it  by  the  worms  you  trample. 

Men  martyr  truth  for  its  conviction 
And  yet  crown  folly  for  its  fiction. 

Too  much  of  wealth,  too  little  merit 
The  children  of  the  rich  inherit. 

Hew  lovingly  some  people  handle 
The  tainted  morsel  of  a  scandal. 


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It  is  the  eagle's  pinions 
Which  give  it  wide  dominions. 

The  love  between  the  sexes 
The  devil  still  perplexes. 

'Tis  folly  to  importune 
For  all  the  gifts  of  Fortune. 

To  call  a  goose  a  gander 
Is  but  perverting  slander. 

The  virtue  of  gentility 
Is  its  respectability. 

Some  sinners  would  adventure 
To  sign  a  saint's  indenture. 

Who  ever  woman  courted 
Has  often  truth  distorted. 

Tis  but  a  poor  repentance 
Which  follows  after  sentence. 

Because  a  sword  is  pliable 
Proves  not  'tis  unreliable. 

An  amity  convivial 
Is  generally  trivial. 


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They  or.ly  who  have  loved  or  hated 
Know  the  full  meaning  of  mismated. 

'Tis  strange  with  what  asperity 
We  entertain  sincerity. 

When  Love  grows  too  observant 
It  ceases  to  be  fervent. 

Too  many  maidens  think  of  marriage 
As  of  a  journey  in  a  carriage. 

However  great,  however  little, 

All  gods  made  out  of  clay  are  brittle. 

The  gift  of  prophesying 
Is  but  the  gab  of  lying. 

A  modicum  of  suavity 
Can  gild  even  depravity. 

When  folly  is  commended 
What  fool  can  feel  offended  ? 

The  noblest  life — the  life  of  labor ; 

The  noblest  love — the  love  of  neighbor. 

A  dole  of  thanks,  though  but  a  pittance, 
Assists  in  gratitude's  acquittance. 


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Defeat  becomes  a  noble  master 
When  teaching  us  to  shun  disaster. 

Not  truthfulness  but  lying 
Needs  ever  fortifying. 

God  loves  hilarity 
Free  from  vulgarity. 

The  road  of  the  friendless 
Is  lonely  and  endless. 

Man's  faith  in  his  futurity 
Is  a  bond  without  security. 

They  who  spend  life  in  dancing 
Are  seldom  found  advancing. 

Reforms  are  most  affected 
Where  schools  are  most  erected. 

Sometimes  it  proves  expensive 
To  be  too  apprehensive. 

Friendship  which  hath  two  edges 
Is  prone  to  cut  its  pledges. 

Who  walks  the  road  of  splendor 
Must  not  have  feet  too  tender. 


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Love  in  its  season 

Is  love  without  reason. 

It  is  the  wise  man's  folly 
Which  make  fools  melancholy. 

There's  poison  in  the  chalice 
Touched  by  the  lips  of  malice. 

The  more  incredible  the  fiction 

The  greater  grows  a  fool's  conviction. 

The  great  more  than  the  humble 
Are  still  more  apt  to  stumble. 

Both  cowardice  and  cunning 
Are  very  apt  at  running. 

The  devil  surely  gets  his  portion 
Without  resorting  to  extortion. 

There's  many  things  more  edifying 
Than  man's  precocity  in  lying. 

What  lapidary  would  demolish 
A^precious  stone  for  lack  of  polish  ? 

When  some  dead  lie  is  resurrected 
The  liar  is  the  most  affected. 


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Credulity  still  fosters 
Society's  impottors. 

Some  women  seem  adorable 
Whose  morals  are  deplorable. 

The  road  to  Fruit  Forbidden 
Is  woefully  overriden. 

That  mountains  are  removeable 
Must  still  remain  unproveable. 

How  many  world-exalted 
Have  from  their  fame  defaulted. 

Think  not  the  poet  erratic 
For  dwelling  in  an  attic. 

The  fearlessness  of  many  an  action 
Springs  from  man's  fealty  to  faction. 

Not  always  every  deed  that's  glorious 
Is  morally  as  meritorious. 

Better  to  speak  a  platitude 
Than  not  express  thy  gratitude. 

It  would  be  folly  for  the  rabbit 
To  mask  itself  in  lion's  habit. 


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If  only  given  the  occasion 

A  sinner  does  not  need  persuasion. 

To  misccnstrje  veracity 
Is  deemed  in  law  sagacity. 

Linked  to  a  virtue  that  is  vicious 
E'en  love  itself  grows  meritricious. 

Who  sip  the  cup  of  pleasure 
Wail  not  at  overmeasure. 

Not  all  the  Lord's  anointed 
Are  chosen  or  appointed. 

The  fox  can  with  facility 
Assume  the  garb  humility, 

Ignorance  misguided 
Should  never  be  derided. 

The  art  which  makes^demeanor  gracious 
Oft  makes  the  character  mendacious. 

One  easily  can  sever 
Performance  from'endeavor. 

The  weathercock  uponjhe  steeple 
Is  not  the  pastor  of  theapeople. 


The  spirit  of  conformity 

May  breed  some  strange  enormity. 

A  pigmy  dwelling  with  the  giants 
Is  apt  to  boast  of  self-reliance. 

The  spirit  dutiful 
Is  also  beautiful. 

The  virtues  of  a  woman 
Proclaim  her  truly  human. 

What's  worth  the  cost  of  g  lining 
Is  also  worth  retaining. 

Some  men  presume  to  greatness 
Writh  too  austere  sedateness. 

Base  is  he  who  despises 
The  means  by  which  he  rises. 

The  heights  had  best  be  counted 
After  they  are  surmounted. 
God's  precepts  only  mattered 
Until  fair  Eve  was  flattered. 

To  charge  self-love  with  blindness 
Is  justice  but  unkindness. 


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The  virtues  that  we  nourish 
Are  those  most  apt  to  flourish. 

The  merchant  thinks  commendable 
Whatever  goods  are  vendible. 

No  sin  will  need  acquittal 
Which  never  knew  committal. 

It  would  be  detrimental 
To  the  tiger  to  be  gentle. 

Who  speaketh  with  authority 
Still  speaks  with  the  minority. 

Tis  nothing  new  or  novel 
To  find  a  genius  in  a  hovel. 

The  jackass  still  rejoices 

To  hear  his  brethren's  voices. 

What  profits  it  to  experiment 
Upon  the  cause  of  merriment  ? 

A  better  life  of  laughter 
May  better  life  hereafter. 

To  delicately  cast  aspersion 
Is  smart  society's  diversion. 


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The  creed  which  needs  apology 
Is  but  a  poor  doxology. 

No  woman's  beauty  surely 
Was  born  to  die  obscurely. 

I  hold  it  still  permissible 

To  kiss  a  woman — if  she's  kissable. 

We're  always  sure  of  winning 
The  game  from  the  beginning. 

Why  should  it  seem  surprising 
To  find  wealth  patronizing  ? 

We  often  are  indebted 

To  things  we  have  regretted. 

'Tis  not  by  mental  churning 
That  men  increase  their  learning. 

It  is  too  late  to  falter 
When  standing  at  the  altar. 

Better  be  poor  and  needy 
Than  gourmandized  and  greedy. 

When  wrongs  are  to  be  righted 

Law  should  be  expedited.  BttOoft  Library 


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Men  rich  in  wealth  and  station 
Are  always  preaching  toleration. 

The  foolish  are  contented 

When  by  a  fool  they're  represented. 

Who  stirs  a  pot  to  make  it  bubble 
May  get  a  scalding  for  his  trouble. 

There  is  dishonor  in  detraction 
Spoken  by  either  man  or  faction. 

A  woman's  tongue  can  raise  more  clamor 
Than  even  Vulcan  with  his  hammer. 

The  virtue  which  must  be  commended 
May  be  from  vice  itself  descended. 

Not  those  who  build  a  church  or  buyjt 
Can  absolutely  sanctify  it. 

The  devil's  virtuous  intention 
Is  but  a  pin-point  in  dimension. 

An  oath  is  not  an  act  of  daring ; 
There's  truer  virtue  in  forbearing. 


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San  Francisco 

Reprinted  by   kind  permission  of  the  Editor,  from  "Sunset  Magazine, 
December    1904 

1  stood  upon  a  verdant  height 

Above  the  sand  dunes  bleak  and  gray 
What  time  the  watchman  of  the  night 

Salutes  the  herald  of  the  day--- 
The  twilight  of  the  dawn---the  stars 

Yet  lingering  in  the  skies  were  few  ; 
My  spirit  through  its  prison-bars 

Looked  out  with  rapture  at  the  view. 

Like  some  red  chief  I  saw  the  sun 

His  arrows  tipped  with  fire,  arise, 
'Till  night's  pale  warriors,  one  by  one, 

Lay  slain  along  the  crimsoned  skies. 
I  saw  Presidio's  barracks  stirred, 

The  soldiers  going  to  and  fro ; 
And  from  afar,  though  faint,  I  heard 

The  bugles  their  reveille  blow. 

O  San  Francisco!   how  my  heart 

Exulted,  when  I  heard  beyond 
The  hills  that  hold  thy  Gate  apart 

Those  ringing  bugle  notes  respond. 
Gorgeous  with  bannered  gold  the  clouds 

Moved  through  the  passes  of  the  sky  ; 
No  sea  of  faces  swayed  in  crowds 

To  watch  those  silent  troops  go  by. 


No  rumor  reached  me  of  the  din 

Where  commerce  and  where  traffic  meet 
No  vista  of  the  scarlet  sin 

Rustling  its  garments  through  the  street. 
Only  the  bell-buoys  muffled  dirge, 

The  wheeling  sea-gulls  overheard; 
And  those  scarred  cliffs  on  which  the  surge 

Mourns  its  deep  requiem  for  the  dead. 

Fair  those  great  cities  ringed  with  foam — 

But  fairer  than  them  all  to  me 
This  city  of  my  heart  and  home, 

A  greater  Athens  yet  to  be. 
Wardress  of  all  the  ships  which  sail 

Her  tributary  seas  afar, 
What  alien  power  can  prevail 

Her  glory  and  her  grace  to  mar  ? 

And  mighty  ships  shall  anchor  yon 

From  all  the  lands  of  far  away, 
Flaunting  bright  pennants  to  the  sun, 

Making  a  forest  of  her  bay. 
And  as  her  beauty  shall  increase, 

Singing  the  magic  of  her  name, 
Her  port  will  be  the  port  of  peace, 

Her  crown,  a  crown  of  song  and  fame  ! 


